Work holder



Jan. 22, 1985. o, G, ARMSTRONG 1,988,887

WORK HOLDER Filed/ March 14, 1984 FIG. 1. :l EL

INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Jan. 22, 1935 UNITED STATES Parral,` OFFICE p wom; HOLDER OrlanG. Armstrong, Canton, Ohio l Application March 14, 1984, serial No.'715,544

' 9 claims. (C1. 51--21'0 The present invention relates to work'holdersand more particularly to atcol or devicefor use n grinding orre-surfacing contact points of ignition systems, such as are employed inconnection with internal combustion engines.

for grinding'. A

The primary object of the invention is to provide a device of thischaracter adapted to receive and hold various types of movable contactarms or levers, as .well as different forms of contact screws, sothatthe contact points thereof may be properly ground or re-surfaced. f

' A further object of the invention is to provide a work holder for usein connection with ignition point grindingand adapted `to be associatedwith existing types of valve grinding or resurfacing machines havingmeans for squaring olf the ends of the valve stems.` Y

Another andimportant object of the Yinvention is to provide a workholder "of this character which may be very economically manufacturedand sold at a low cost so that'the holder may be profitably used asequipment infga'rages and repair shops generally. Y 4 l `Still anotherobject is to provide such a device which is not apt 'to become cloggedby the material ground off nor one which will easily getlout of order. i

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent duringthe course of the following detailed description; taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification andin which drawingz- Figure v1 is "a top plan view of a conventional valvegrinding machine with the novel work holder in position upon 'themachine'and a double'` contact arm gripped bythe holder;

Figure 2 is an elevation of the novel Awork holder. i

Figure 3 is a view substantially on the line 3 3 of Figurel. Figure 4 isa fragmentary longitudinal sec' tional view thru one end of the holderand showing one Ytype of contact screw heldin` position Figure 5 isafragmentary elevation of an end of the holder Ishowing the manner ofplacing' a second typefof contact screw in the holder.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the second type ofcontact screw held in position for grinding.

Figure 7 is an enlarged end viewlof :the ,holder showing'another type ofcontact arr'ny held in position for grinding.

Figure `8 is a klongitudinal section thru the, holder showing the normalrelation of the parts;v

v Inthe drawing, wherein for the purpose of i1- lustration is shown onlyva preferred embodiment of the invention, the letter A designatesgenerally a conventional 'form of bench tool or valve grinding machine,kthe letter B the novel work holden-C one type of contact point, D ascrew type contact point, E a second screw type contact point, and F afourth type of contact point.

For the purpose of illustration, the valve grinding machine A is oneVshown and described in U. S. Patent 1,803,984, dated'May 5, 1931. Thismachine includes a grinding tool, such as an abrasive wheel 10, suitablymounted to rotate, a work spindle base 11, provided with an elongatedsubstantially V-shaped guide depression or groove 12 in its uppersurface, the groove normally'extending towards the face of the abrasivewheel 10 with the ends of the groove open. Means is provided in thepatent referred to, so that the extended plane of the groove 12 willintersect and substantially form arright angle with the face of thewheel l0. g

As for the novel lwork holder B, the same includes an elongated housingwhich preferably comprises a tubular member 15. 4One end 16 ofthe-tubular member may be somewhat flattened so as to provide a mouthl'lnarrower lin width than the internal diameter of the tubular mem-`ber but wider in length than theinternal diameter thereof as isparticularly shown in Figure '1; The extremity of this end 16 forms anabutment 18 of some length.y Extending longitudinally of thetubularmember is a slot or opening 19 which extends from the outer to the'innersurface of the tubularY member and to either side of the transversemedial line thereof andends well short of the endsv of the tubularymember. Adjacent the endy 20 Opposite the 'end' 16 the tubular memberis' providedwitha'n opening 2 1 having a substan tially rectangularmouth andvcommunicating with the interior of the tubular member. Thisopening 21 is spaced from the extremity of the end 20 and betweenlit'vand the said extremity the tubular member is provided with aperforation 22 which may be screw threaded if desired. Inwardly of themouth 17 and on opposite sides of the tubular member,"l the latter maybe provided with la pair of rivet'h'oles for a purpose later broughtout.

Slidable within the housing or tubular member 10 is a preferably shortplunger 23 having generally squared ends, the extremity of the endvfacing the mouth 17 being provided with a groove or recess 24 `while theextremity of the oppositev end of the plunger 23 provides an abutment`25.y

Suitably fixedly secured to the plunger 23 may be a means to slide theplunger thru the tubular member` and which preferably comprises a pin 26extending thru the slot .1.9 and terminating in a head 27 such as shownin Figures 3 and 8.

Work holding means at'one end of the tubular member comprises an insertor member 28. This member 28 is snugly held within the tubular memberagainst movement so that it closes the end 20 of the tubular member.However, it is provided with alongitudinal bore 29 of acircumference sothat an abutment 30 is provided at the inner end of the member 28. Atransverse bore 31 extends thru the member to the longitudinal bore 29and is preferably screw threaded. This bore 31 when aligning with theperforation 22...permits.the insertion of a screw 32 having the functionvof holding the insert 27 in place aswell as an additional' functionlater described. v

A second work holding means, differing radically from .thelastdescribed'means, -is provided at-theend v16 andpreferably includes asubstantially Ufshaped member with the bight portion 33 thereofaccommodated withinthe recess 24 of the plunger 23. The larms ,'34 ofthe U-shaped member extend along the inner surfaces of the side walls ofthe tubular member and are preferablyv of resilient material. The width`of the arms is suchthat, as may be seen in Figure 2, they bridge theslot 19. Since the arms may be said to extend from the plunger 23, the-slot 19 is always covered no matter what may be ythe positionof theplunger`23 nor the arms 34, whereby no abrasive `material nor ymetallicparticles ground off will find their way to the interior of the housingthru this slot. The arms 34h01'- mally extend to a short distanceinwardly of the abutment `18 and lie within the mouth 17 and across thenarrow end thereof, being ,normally spaced `somewhat from-the walls ofthe mouth as shown in Figure 7. The free ends of the arms terminate infing-ers 35 which extend inwardly towards the longitudinal axis of thetubular member and in substantialparallelism with the abutment 18. It,will'be seen in Figures 3 and 7 that these fingers 35 terminate shortofeach other.

A single resilient rmeans is provided both to normally urge the plunger23 towardthe member 28 in the end. 20 vof the tubular member so as to jforce `the plunger against the work -held by the irstidescribed workrholding means and to also normally urge the second `work holding meanstoward the Vend 20 of thetubular member. Itis preferred to` employ -anextension coil spring 't for thispurpose, the coil spring having itsinnermost end 37 terminating in an eye thru which a suitable pin 38extends so asto couple thespring 36- to theplunger 23. This pin 38bridges the recess24 inwardly of and adjacent `the endl of the plungerand lies between the end' andthe. bight portion 33 of the U-'shapedmember, thus both securingfthe coil spring 36 tothe-z plunger23'andValso holding the U-shaped memberacoupled thereto. The opposite vend 39of thespring 36 is secured'by a suitable rivet or pin40 extending thruthe'rivet holes mentioned as adjacent the'mouth 17.

arm,l5 1 and conductor 5,2. 'Inthe contact screw,

`The'contact points Cto F'inclusive areiexamples D, a head 55 and screwthreaded shank 56 of substantially similar diameter are provided, theshank terminating in a contact point 57, while in the Contact screw E ahead 60 is provided together with a shank 61 of less diameter, and thelatter terminates in a contact point 62. A fourth type of contact pointis shown in Figure 7 as F. This includes an arm 65 having a contactpoint 66 projecting therefrom.

When employing the novel tool holder B in grinding the contact points 53of the contact arm C, the tool holder B may be grasped in one hand andthe thumb or a finger' employed to urge the head 27 towards the end 16until -the lngers 35 and a portion of the arms 34 Aextend from the mouth17. Then one of the arm portions 51 carrying the conductor 52 andA`a.contact'point 53 lis slipped between the fingers 35 `andthe abutment18 as shown in Figure 3 in dotted lines. Releasing the head 27 willcause the spring 36 to urge the U-shaped member :towards the Aend 20 andthexngers rwill force .the armfportions 51 against the .relativelywidexabutment 18-holding it in place with the point53 projectingoutwardly between the i extremities I of the fingers 35. If thearmportion 51 is quite broad, the arms may be spread'to accommodate it,the particular shape of themouth 17 permitting this, as is apparent fromFigures Bzand 8. .The novel tool may now be positioned Vso that the endof the point 53 maybe brought against .a suitable abrasivesurface .for.grinding,-such as disposing the tool .B inthe groove 12, as well shownin Figure 1 and then sliding the tool forwardly to contact the point 53with the wheel 10. Types similar to 'C are. rather diiiicult to handledue to the doublek contacts, one at either end, but the novel'devicedisclosed holdssuchtypes very firmly. It is obvious that upon urging thehead 27 towards the. end 1.6, the memberC `may be released.

Now, whenvit is desired to grindcontact points on screws such asillustrated by D, .the screw may be inserted into the bore-29, head55first and the setscrew 32 be employed to position itso that the point 57willproject afsufcientdistance from the end 20 and member 28. Thelplunger 23 is also retracted a sucientgdistance topermit this and whenthe set screw 32 Vis sufficiently tightened, the plunger maybe .releasedso .that the abutment 25` will rest upon the end of the head 55.. Thetool may now be placed in 'the groove 12 for grinding the point v57.Releasing theset screw 32 will cause the plunger to .urge the .screwcontact D outwardly so that it may be grasped and-removed.

When grinding a vpoint such as that on :the screw contact E, the plunger23 may beretracted until the'screw contactE may be dropped thru theaperture 21 as shown in Figure 5.` If necessary the `fingers of the handmay be vemployed to cause `the shank 61 to enter the bore 29 'and thenupon releasing the plunger 23, the abutment 25 will contact the head 60and force itagainst the' abutmentBO of thesmember .28 so positioning thecontact screw yE as shown in Figure 6 in a proper position vfor grindingas heretofore described. Upon again retracting the plunger 23 'andturning the tool so that the end 20 extends upwardly, the contact screwE will slide intov the temporary compartment defined by thefwalls of thehousing and the abutments 25 and 30 and by slightly yrevolving the tool,the contact screw E will drop out into the hand. 1 i. w 1 -f The type ofcontact shownrat .F is handled `quite similarly to the double contactarmC bythe fingers T35 and abutment 18 as is'v apparent inFigure'L1 nFrom the above, it Willy be seen' that a; very useful hand tool isvprovided for. the uses mentioned and one which will not-ber apt'tobecome clogged by materialvground off, mayfbemanufactured at arelatively low cost, and may be manipulated easily-yet will firmly. holdvarious types of contact arms or levers for grinding the points thereof.

Various changes may be made in the form of invention herein shown anddescribed, without departing from the spirit of the invention or thescope of the claims.

What is claimed is:

l. In a work holder, an elongated housing, a plunger slidablelongitudinally Within said housing, work holding means fixedly held atone end of said housing, work holding means slidably carried at theother end of said-housing, and resilient means both normally urging.said plunger towards said first named end to force said plunger againstthe work held by said first work holding means and at the same timenormally urging said second work holding means towards the end of saidhousing occupied by said rst named work holding means.

2. In a work holder, an elongated housing, a plunger slidable withinsaid housing, Work holding means xedly held at one end of said housing,work holding means slidably carried at the other end of said housingincluding a finger movable to overhang said last named end and extendytowards the longitudinal axis of said body portion, and resilient meansboth normally urging said plunger towards said first named end to forcesaid plunger against the work held by said rst named work holding meansand at the same time normally urging said second work holding meanstowards the end of said housing occupied by said first named workholding means and said finger into various planes paralleling thetransverse axis of said body portion.

3. In a work holder, an elongated housing, one end thereof being openand dening an abutment, a plunger slidable within said housing, workholding means xedly held at the other end of said housing, work holdingmeans slidably carried at the open end of said housing including alinger movable to extend into and out of said housing and disposed toextend substantially parallel with the face of said abutment, andresilient means both normally urging said plunger towards said secondnamed end to force said plunger against work held by said first namedwork holding means and at the same time normally urging said secondnamed work holding means towards the end of said housing occupied bysaid first named work holding means, and said nger into various planesparalleling said face of said abutment, whereby work may be held betweensaid finger and said abutment. i

4. In a work holder, an elongated housing, a plunger slidable therein,work holding means xedly held at an end of said housing, work holdingmeans slidably carried at the other end of said housing including a pairof resilient arms extending from the inner end of said plunger andterminating at their free ends in a pair of spaced apart fingersdisposed to extend inwardlytowards the longitudinal axis of said housingand resilient means both normally urging said plunger towards said rstnamed end to force said plunger against the .work 'held' bysaid firstnamed work holding means and at the same time normally urging said armsand iingersltowards .the end of saidhousing occupied by said iirst namedwork holdingI means.

5. In a work holder, a tubular housing having an'open end forming an'abutment and also having a second end,.fa plunger slidable thru' saidhousing and having a slot at its inner end, work holding means iixedlyheld vat said second named end of said housing, work holding meansslidably carried at the 'open endvof said housing including asubstantially U-shape'dfmembergthe bight portion thereof accommodatedwithin said slot, and the arms thereof being resilient and slidablealong the inner face of said tubular member, each of the free ends ofsaid arms terminating in a finger extending inwardly towards thelongitudinal axis of said tubular housing and substantially parallelingsaid abutment, and resilient means both normally urging said plungeragainst vthe work held by said irst named work holding means and at thesame time normally urging said second named work holding means towardsthe end of said housing occupied by said rst named work holding means,including an expansible coil spring, having one end secured to saidhousing, and a pin extending thru an end of said coil spring and intosaid plunger and at said slot, said pin bridging said slot at a pointbetween the ends of said plunger and said bight portion.

6. In a work holder, an elongated housing, a plunger slidable withinsaid housing, work holding means rigidly held at one end ofsaid housing,said means including a member having a central bore extendinglongitudinally of said housing and also having an abutment spacedinwardly of the end of said housing occupied by said member, Workholding means slidably carried at the other end of said housing, andresilient means normally urging said plunger towards said member toforce said plunger against the work held by said rst named work holdingmeans and at the same time normally urging said second work holdingmeans toward the end of said housing occupied by said member.

'7. In a work holder, a tubular housing, a plunger slidable in saidhousing, work lholding means at one end of said housing, said meansincluding a member having a central bore extending longitudinally ofsaid housing, work holding means slidably carried at the other end ofsaid housing, resilient means both normally urging said plunger towardssaid member and to force said plunger against the work within said rstnamed Work holding means and at the same time normally urging saidsecond work holding means towards the end of said housing occupied bysaid rst named work holding means, and means to selectively preventlongitudinal movement of said member and the work while in said bore.

8. In a work holder for holding ignition points, a'tubular housinghaving an open mouth at one lend, said mouth being restricted in widthand of va length greater than the interior diameter of said mally urgesaid vplunger toward said iirstnamed means .to force said plungeryagainst the Worklheld by .said first named means and at rthe same timetonormally urge the arms and fingers of said second work holding meansinto said mouth, said spring being so mounted in said tubular housingthat it is free to be contracted.

9. In combination with a grinding machine having an abrasive device anda base provided with an elongated depression in the upper surfacethereof with onefend opening towards said abra.- sive device and-thelongitudinally extending plane ofV said depression normallyvintersecting said abrasive device,an ignition point holder includinganelongated tubular body portion adapted :to be accommodated Within saiddepression and provided with an ignition point gripping means largelywithin an end thereof and within the longitudinal planes of the walls ofsaid depression, whereby said .holder may be moved freely along saiddepression and towards saidabrasive device to contact an ignitionypointtherewith.

ORLAN G. ARMSTRONG. n

